The challenge in writing on this subject is in placing myself in the position of the average consumer and giving that consumer tangible, workable tools to assist them in making informed decisions as to how to select an agent.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, there are only a few "hard and fast" guidelines in assisting in this decision, and those will only successfully eliminate a percentage of the masses of agents that want your listing.
When selecting an agent, there are a few things you need to understand and accept. The most important being that; all Agents, with all companies, have virtually the same marketing tools at their disposal.
The only real question in regards to those tools and the agent you select is "Will they use them?" and, "How effectively will they use them?"
What happens in the real world is that the agents and the companies tend to exaggerate the effectiveness and importance of what they feel is their areas of strength as compared to the competition. But, more importantly, exaggerate what you, the homeowner, perceive as being important, in selling your home.
Some examples of exaggerated benefits; how much print advertising they do, the size office they work out of (the number of agents), their experience (meaning years in the business), their companies web site , their personal web site, the dollar amount of closed sales they\'ve had, the list goes on and on and more are being invented daily.
I\'m not saying there is no importance to any of these things, (although there is no importance to most of them,) but that the things of even minimal importance, every agent has.
Don\'t believe me? Let me address these items individually.
Print advertising; Print advertising, specifically newspaper advertising, is commonly known to be the greatest single expense in the real estate business. It\'s also commonly known to produce minimal results. So now your question is; if it\'s the industries greatest expense and it produces minimal results, why do they do it?
Two reasons;
First, print advertising is one of the few things the seller SEES the agent and the company doing to sell their home. Think about it, other than the sign in the yard and the web site listing, what ARE they doing to sell you home and justify that hefty commission? After all, other agents are showing it.
Second; To generate buyers. Another commonly known fact is that the odds are even lower that a buyer calling on a home will actually buy the home they call on. If you’re asking, why try to get the call? The reasons simply, the agent on the other end of the phone will NEVER be the callers’ agent, if they never talk.
The size office they work out of; The supposed benefit is that, all these agents are generating all these listings, and when the buyers call in on those listings the agent can switch them to your property. This only happening, of course, if it turns out the home they called on isn\'t really what they were looking for.
The number one goal of ANY agent doing "phone duty" or "opportunity time" is to get a name and number. Period. Getting a name and phone number is 100 times easier to say than do. Most calls sound like this; "How much is the house around the corner?, thank you, click". Most agents don’t want to risk not getting that name and number, by doing anything that appears to be pushy.
In reality, agents don\'t care if they sell their own companies listings or another companies listings, they just want that name and number.
Experience; Experience is a good thing when it applies to how much working, practical knowledge a person has, unfortunately, as in all of life, people sometimes equate years with experience. There are agents who, in a year, have acquired more practical knowledge than people in the business for twenty or thirty years. And just because someone\'s been doing something for a long time doesn\'t mean they were any good at it.
Web Sites; While there\'s no arguing the value of the internet and it\'s effect on home selling, as a seller you have to ask how a particular site directly affects the sale of your home.
Generally speaking, there are so many real estate sites, be they company sites or individual sites, that they\'ve overwhelmed the internet home shopper. The result is virtually the same as shopping for a home through print advertising. Confusing, frustrating and time consuming.
Wouldn\'t it be nice if there were a single source for all the listings? There is, and that\'s what people use for the most part. Realtor.com or the areas local MLS web site, and even those can be difficult to find as a result of all the people buying any domain name and adding MLS to it.
Any sites other than Realtor.com and your local areas MLS web site are virtually worthless in marketing your home unless, they actively attempt to drive buyers to that site and the site is enough of a value to those buyers that they purposely come back to it.
This is the reason our web address is prominently displayed in all our marketing and the information provided on this site, far from generic.
The dollar amount of closed sales an agent has had or awards they\'ve received; This is supposed to tell you that, "hey, everybody else uses me and they can\'t all be wrong".
Frankly, these pitches offend me. An agent who closes a single million dollar home, earns the exact same as an agent that closes ten $100,000 homes. The truth is that the agent who has closed the ten homes has probably worked 100 times harder for their buyers and sellers than the agent with the single sale, and is indisputably more experienced because of it, yet their "glory" is the same.
Some of the hardest working, most ethical agents I have ever known have never had the kind of sales some Agents brag about.
In real estate there are no "Most Ethical Awards" or "Assisted most Buyers with Shaky Credit get into their First Homes Awards". Don\'t discount an agent that doesn\'t wear their success on their sleeves.
Conversely, don\'t read too much into those big numbers, your concern isn\'t that an agent got paid from other people, but rather, are they going to work hard for you.
On to "How to Select an Agent"
Number 1 - Only use a Realtor®.
All Realtors® are Agents, but all Agents are not Realtors®. Realtors® are sworn to abide by a Code of Ethics and as such, are accountable for their actions. If you have a problem with a Realtor® you can file a complaint against them with their local Board and if found guilty, their punishment can include fines to suspensions to the revocation of their license.
It\'s difficult to say how many candidates this will eliminate from your list.
Number 2 - Only use a Full time Realtor®.
If you ask a Full time Realtor® when they work, they\'ll tell you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They work when their customers need them. There are so many details involved in successfully marketing to ultimately getting a sale to closing; a part time agent simply can\'t deliver the attention you should expect.
In the industry, part time agents are referred to as hobbyists. Many work regular jobs, others simply don\'t want to work evenings and/or weekends. The problem is, a great many of the details, a lender needing information, an inspector not being able to get into a house, a buyer wanting to go through a home, possibly your home, require PROMPT attention, not after getting off work or tomorrow or Monday.
Many agents carry a license simply on the off chance they may "stumble into some easy money". Your listing. Full time Realtors® are constantly educating themselves on the best ways to serve their customers and are involved in enough transactions to be truly experienced. It is their career, not a pastime.
This one could potentially wipe out 50% of the Realtors® you come across, especially in Florida where it seems to be state law that everyone have a real estate license.
Number 3 - Do not list with any Realtor® that does not intend to either or both; market your home in the M.L.S. or offer the typical cooperative compensation to other agents on the M.L.S., unless, they completely and thoroughly explain to you the significant potential ramifications to the number of days your home is on the market and your final selling price and terms by not doing so.
The M.L.S. is BY FAR the best marketing tool available to anyone, anywhere.
I am absolutely convinced that anyone who lists their home with a Realtor®, and chooses not to have their home on the M.L.S. or offer typical compensation to other agents (or both), does not fully understand the potential ramifications.
I\'m forced to say potential because there\'s always the chance, however slim, that the one buyer willing to offer the best price with the best terms will happen to drive by your home or find your home on some obscure web site on the day it\'s listed. Not because I believe it will happen.
The reason this option is offered is because a great many consumers will believe anything to save money (the cooperative compensation) and some Realtors are willing to perpetuate that belief (that you don\'t need the M.L.S.) to get your listing.
And it\'s easy for consumers to convince themselves they don\'t need the M.L.S.. I\'ve heard the reasoning before, the markets strong, the company has their own web site, we\'ll advertise in the paper until your home\'s sold, blah, blah, blah. It\'s easy to get your mind around saving a certain percentage, it\'s a hard figure, unlike the explanation of increased exposure creating a higher sale price, better terms, etc. That sounds like fancy talk designed to deceive. When you add in that person we all know, telling you how they got what they were asking and didn\'t use the M.L.S. or a Realtor or even put a sign in the yard, heck, there house wasn\'t even for sale. Like I said, it\'s easy to believe.
All the reasons conveniently ignore that the vast majority of sales are generated by agents who use the M.L.S.
Remember, maximum exposure is what gets you the best price and terms in the least amount of time.
Banking on the long shot could cost you all of those.
On the issue of offering typical compensation to cooperating agents.
Ask your Realtor what the typical compensation would be in their opinion and offer it.
Many buyers don\'t want to see EVERY listing, they want their agent to "filter out" the homes the agent doesn\'t think they\'d be interested in.
Trying to save some money by offering less compensation than what the next seller is probably offering could cause your home to not "make the cut" and buyers could end up not even know about your home.
It\'s difficult to say how many agents this will eliminate as this practice is becoming more common, as the market cools off you\'ll see less of it.
These first 3 items I consider beyond compromise, the next few however, are fairly subjective and you\'ll have to make your own call as to how much weight you give them in your decision making.
Number 4 - Does the Realtors marketing include the M.L.S. number and street address on the homes their selling?
Most companies don\'t. Why? As I said previously: because they want buyers to call THEM.
So, you’re asking, what\'s the problem with that?
The problem is, there are a lot of buyers out there that won\'t call an agent, NO MATTER WHAT, until they absolutely have to. If there were an address or an M.L.S. number they could use to look up the address, they just might drive by the property, love it and then call an agent.
Not putting the address or M.L.S. number in ads is in effect saying that the agent doesn\'t want buyers to know where the house is, unless they call them.
The desire to use your home to generate business (calls) is the motivation of the agent that doesn\'t include this information in ads.
As most companies do this, please keep in mind what I wrote previously about the overall effectiveness of print advertising in the first place. Then decide how important this aspect is to you. I wouldn\'t view this as a negative if a company doesn\'t include this information in their promotions, but as a positive if they do, not forgetting the first three, which I consider, mandatory criteria.
Number 5 - Think twice about listing with a friend, be they a relative, neighbor, etc.
As I\'ve pointed out quite a few times, buying or selling real estate, especially a home, is STRESSFUL. Small things to Realtors® are sometimes big things to sellers. Nobody is immune. Everybody thinks they\'re different and it won\'t happen to them.
That friend or relative will get over not getting your listing if you just tell them something like, (I made my last Realtor cry and I didn\'t want to risk our friendship) or something equally considerate of your friendship. There are some conflicts or disagreements that people never seem to really get over, be they justified or not.
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